The Liberal government announced this morning in Ottawa that the Global Skills Strategy for Canada will launch June 12. that seeks to fast-track high-skill talent for fast-growing Canadian companies and global companies that are relocating to Canada or otherwise investing in the country or creating jobs.

The new strategy seeks to fast-track high-skill talent for fast-growing Canadian companies and global companies that are relocating to Canada or otherwise investing in the country or creating jobs.

Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Navdeep Bains and Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour Patty Hajdu announced the strategy, including the Global Talent Stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program will launch June 12. The new policy is specifically designed to address occupations where there’s an identified skills gap in Canada. The exact occupations that will be deemed in high-demand will be developed after consultation with labour market experts and key stakeholders. The government says it will track employers’ commitments to create jobs, transfer knowledge and train Canadian workers.

There will also be a new short-duration work permit exemption put in place under the strategy, allowing for work terms of fewer than 30 days within a year, or “brief academic stays.”

Applicants for workers through the Global Talent Stream will be provided with service guiding them through the process, with the goal of completing it in a 10-day time frame.

One of the most-cited skills gaps in Canada is in the IT field. In 2015, the Information and Communications Technology Council released a report saying Canada needed 182,000 workers to fill positions such as systems analysts, consultants, computer and network operators, web technicians, and software engineers by 2019. At an event late last year, Bains spoke about the need to close the skills gap between the number of IT-related jobs posted and the number of workers available to fill them at a Toronto event hosted by Google.